Between July 2018 and July 2021, Ontario Crown lawyers dedicated 1,672 taxpayer-funded hours to the province's case to keep Premier Doug Ford's now-leaked mandate letters secret.
The government's argument to keep the letters secret hinges on what's commonly referred to as the Cabinet records exemption in Ontario's Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act . The exemption states that any records that "would reveal the substance of deliberations of the executive council or its committee" are exempt from public disclosure.The interpretation of that exemption is at the heart of the mandate letter case.
James Turk, director of the Centre for Free Expression at Toronto Metropolitan University, says the result of the mandate letter appeal will affect the future of access to information in Ontario. Questions and comments from many of the Supreme Court justices during the spring hearing seemed to indicate they were concerned about the importance of protecting cabinet confidences, the convention of cabinet secrecy, and the scope of what the Ontario Legislature originally intended to protect with the exemption in FIPPA.
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